Mental Flosshttp://mentalfloss.com/node/14802/atom.xml2016-12-10T03:00:18+00:00http://mentalfloss.com/article/14802/just-when-you-thought-you-were-safetwenty-years-later-pee-wee-returns2006-08-28T18:52:26+00:002006-08-28T18:53:16+00:00Just when you thought you were safe...Twenty years later, Pee-Wee returns!Will

I noticed yesterday on IMDB that Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman) turned 54 this pastÂ weekend.Â And then I realized it's been 20 years since "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" debuted on CBS. And althoughÂ both facts areÂ hard to believe, the more surprising fact is that Pee-Wee is scheduled to return in "Pee-Wee's Playhouse: The Movie" in 2007.Â That'sÂ scary and funny.Â A few other surprising facts I learned on IMDB:

When Reubens signed to do "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" in 1986, CBS agreed to pay him $325,000 per episode. That's what an actor in a major sitcom would have made.

Earlier in his career, Reubens made four appearances on "The Gong Show."

He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. (Can that really be true? IMDB says it is)

During CBS's five year's of "Pee-Wee's Playhouse," Reubens never appeared for interviews as himself. He was always in character.

And you know the post-1991 Reubens story, so I'll leave it at that. And I hate to admit it but if Large Marge is going to make an appearance in the 2007 flick, I might just go see it. Don't tell anyone.